Data management systems, and particularly financial management systems, have become increasing important tools that are used by millions of individuals and businesses throughout the world. Currently, financial management systems include both computing system implemented, i.e., desktop centric, systems and web-based, or on-line, systems. In addition, many financial management systems are directed primarily to processing personal financial data while others are largely directed to processing business or merchant financial data.
Herein, financial management systems directed to different users, such as personal or business users, and/or for performing different functions, such as financial management, financial transaction management, tax preparation, Point Of Sale, etc., are referred to as different “types” of financial management systems.
Examples of currently available types of financial management systems directed to personal financial data include, but are not limited to, computing system implemented and/or on-line personal financial management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line personal financial transaction management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line personal tax preparation systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line personal banking systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; and computing system implemented and/or on-line personal accounting systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications.
Examples of currently available types of financial management systems directed to business financial data include, but are not limited to, computing system implemented and/or on-line business financial management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line business financial transaction management systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line Point Of Sale (POS) systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line business tax preparation systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line business banking systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line invoicing systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; computing system implemented and/or on-line business accounting systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications; and computing system implemented and/or on-line inventory systems, packages, programs, modules, or applications.
The wide use of financial management systems, along with the variety of financial management system types in use, has two important consequences. First, there is an incredible amount of information that is obtained by, processed by, and potentially available from existing financial management systems, particularly when data from different types of financial management systems is considered in the aggregate. Second, in many cases, the data collected by various types of financial management systems when considered in the aggregate represents most, if not all, financial data and information available regarding the numerous, and ever growing number of, entities using the financial management systems, and the financial connections between those entities.
Despite the fact that different types of financial management systems, when considered in the aggregate, are potential sources of more detailed and complete financial data than has ever been made available before, different types of financial management systems, such as personal financial management systems used by consumers, and business financial management systems used by merchants, currently operate in isolation from each other; even when the different types of financial management systems are offered by the same parent company, and even in the case where the same entity is using the different types of financial management systems. Consequently, currently, there are no methods or systems available for aggregating data from two or more different types of financial management systems, such as personal and business financial management systems, to provide more detailed and complete analysis of the financial profiles and financial connections associated with the entities using the financial management systems.
This is an unfortunate situation since if data from different types of financial management systems were aggregated and correlated, the resulting data source could be accessed and processed in an almost infinite number of ways to provide economic profiling, modeling, and insight that is currently unavailable, and to reveal financial connections between entities that are currently unknown, often even to the entities themselves. In short, if data from different types of financial management systems were readily aggregated and correlated into interconnected entity profiles, human financial activity could be analyzed and modeled in ways currently impossible, and at a level of detail and completeness currently unattainable.
What is needed is a method and system for efficiently and effectively obtaining and aggregating financial data from different types of financial management systems, identifying the entities associated with aggregated financial data, de-duplicating the entities associated with aggregated financial data, identifying commercial transactions in the financial data from different types of financial management systems, correlating the entities associated with aggregated financial data with the commercial transactions, and then storing the aggregated and correlated financial data for access and processing.